Recent concerns about the future of the Gibsons Fall Fair may have been premature.
The Fair happens annually on Thanksgiving weekend, but last week organizers posted on their Facebook page that the 2016 event was being cancelled because of complaints to the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) about another event that had been held at Quality Garden and Pet on Pratt Road.
The business is on property in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), which means so-called non-farm uses are restricted.
An online petition calling on the SCRD to let the event go ahead has topped 400 signatures.
Silas White, the SCRD director for Gibsons, said the SCRD did receive a complaint about the Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Festival on Feb. 6. However, he said, bylaw officers decided not to take any action and there’s nothing from the SCRD side preventing the Fair from going forward.
White also said there’s some sensitivity right now over events in the ALR from the public, and ALR property owners.
“Here’s a case like the Fall Fair that’s been running for many years with no controversy and suddenly they’re worried that they’re going to be on the front pages of the paper,” White said. “That’s playing into this, all the attention that the ALR is getting, but really I think a lot of the concerns are getting overblown.”
As of press time, Fair organizers Darren Wheeler and Jill Marie Wilson still haven’t confirmed publicly that the event will now go ahead.
